Systems and methods for providing real-time composite video from multiple source devices featuring augmented reality elements

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for superimposing the human elements of video generated by computing devices, wherein a first user device and second user device capture and transmit video to a central server which analyzes the video to identify and extract human elements, superimpose these human elements upon one another, adds in at least one augmented reality element, and then transmits the newly created superimposed video back to at least one of the user devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present subject matter relates generally to a teleconferencingsystem. More specifically, the present invention relates toteleconferencing system that simulates the mutual physical presence ofusers in a virtual interaction featuring augmented reality elements.

A teleconference or video interaction over almost any distance is aninherently impersonal experience. Many developments in recent technologyhave aimed to solve the issue of people missing the aspects of humaninteractions hearing someone's voice alone does not provide. Fromteleconferencing, to Facetime and Snapchat, the use of video calling andmessages has greatly enhanced communicating over great distances, butthese innovations are not without their shortcomings. Companies such asSnapchat and Facebook have developed augmented reality facial filters,lenses, etc. to create another more interesting dimension to a standardvideo message, chat, or call.

Existing video call technology does not allow a user to feel as thoughthey are in close proximity to the person being called. While users maybe able to see and speak with a colleague or loved one over Facetime,etc. it is readily apparent both users of such technology are inseparate locations. Additionally, current video calls and chats do notincorporate augmented reality into such calls or chats, missing anopportunity for fun and excitement.

Accordingly, there is a need for a video communication system thatsimulates the mutual physical presence of users in virtual interactionsfeaturing augmented reality elements.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To meet the needs described above and others, in one embodiment, thesubject matter provided herein is embodied in a video call applicationthat provides users the illusion of both being present in a singlephysical location. Specifically, the embodiment presents the users thevisual experience of being able to reach out and touch the person withwhom they are speaking. The experience is provided through anapplication that allows users to make a video call with the additionalbenefit of being able to superimpose the video from other user(s)devices' cameras onto the video displayed on each of the user devices'screens. This can be used to provide a real-time video image of allcallers on the same screen, simulating that everyone involved in thecall are physically in each other's presence.

The current invention identifies human elements using the rear and/orfront facing camera(s) of a mobile device. The rear facing camera isintended to be used to capture a real-time video feed of humanelement(s), such as hands, hands and arms or intimate body parts, suchas genitalia, etc. The mobile device uses a detection/recognitionalgorithm to identify these human elements captured in the viewing fieldof a rear and/or front facing camera(s) of an end user device (e.g.smartphones, tablets, personal computers, etc.).

In one example, a first user may reach behind a mobile device during avideo call, whilst still being able to look at the front display screenof their mobile device. The front display screen of their mobile devicewould show a superimposed real-time video containing a human element,superimposed with real time video from a second user's device. Theresulting superimposed video, containing overlapping human elements fromeach user gives a visual impression of physical interaction between theusers.

The application which enables this functionality may be standalone orintegrated into other video calling applications. The application mayrun on mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc.) and personalcomputers (e.g., desktop computers, laptops, etc.).

Another way in which the application may achieve the superimposed videoeffect is by use of the multiple cameras of a smartphone or tablet. Mostmobile devices have two cameras, one on the front face of the device andone on the back. Some newer devices (e.g., the iPhone 7) includemultiple cameras on the back of the device in addition to one or morefront facing cameras. In a second example, the application may allowmultiple cameras on a user device to be active at the same time, withthe system superimposing the human elements (e.g., face, body, hands,etc.) of the video captured by device cameras to give an illusion ofphysical interaction.

In a third example, the application may utilize a first user's rearfacing camera and a second user's front facing camera to enable thefirst user to physically reach around to the back of the first userdevice such that the first user's hand (a human element of a video)appears on the second user's screen when the first user's hand is inview of their device's back camera. This arrangement enables the usersto both view the video call on their given device's while simultaneouslycreating a visual representation of physical touching. This effect isachieved by the first user reaching behind their mobile device into thefield of view their rear facing camera which is capturing video. Thecombination of superimposing a live video of a hand (or other humanelement) taken from a rear facing camera of a mobile device; with ahuman element (e.g., a face, neck, and torso) from a second users secondusers live video creates the visual representation of physicalinteraction/touch between the callers. It should be noted the firstuser's hand could be superimposed over the face, body, or any otherhuman (or non-human) element(s) captured by the second user's camera.This allows users of the system to carry out the illusion of physicalinteractions such as shaking hands, high-flying, etc. depending on whichdevice cameras are utilized by end users.

The video from all cameras utilized by system users at a given time maybe fed into a central server, which in turn transmits the video(s) toother user(s) involved in a given video call. The transmission andreception of the video calls may be carried out via the internet or anyother functionally capable communications network with thesuperimposition of video carried out by user devices, the centralserver, or both depending on what is most functionally advantageous.

In all examples/arrangements of the invention a detection/recognitionalgorithm may be used to identify and extract the human elements from areal-time video feed. One or more of the following detection/recognitionmethods may be used (in whole or in part) to identify and extract thehuman element(s) from a live video feed: foreground and backgroundseparation, proximity recognition, Chroma keying, hand-arm/bodydetection, background subtraction, and a Kalman filter. Furthermore,once a human element is captured within the field of vision of an activecamera of a user's device, the detection/recognition algorithm willcontinuously identify and extract the identified human element(s) inreal time throughout the duration of the video call. The remainder ofthe video footage (that has not been identified or extracted as a humanelement from at least one of the video feeds) may be removed and notshown on the display screen of either user's device.

The application may also allow users to create a user profile whichfeatures information about the user, their call preferences, contacts,etc. User profiles may be stored in the memory of the central server, onuser devices, or both.

The application may allow for many different video call modes,including: Traditional Video Call—front or rear facing camera only; OneWay Touch Call—a superimposed real time video image of one user's frontcamera and another user's rear camera (or vice versa); Rear Touch Call—asuperimposed real time video image of both users' rear cameras(typically used to show holding hands, etc.); and Front Touch Call—asuperimposed real time video image of both users' front cameras(typically used to show a kiss, etc.).

A goal of the present invention is to increase the quality, intimacy,and entertainment value of video calls. By using the front and rearcameras on a smart phone/tablet, the video superimposing system givesthe impression of reaching out and touching another person, playing agame with them, putting virtual clothing upon them, etc. Suchinteractions are not possible with traditional video chat and could beinvaluable to long distance couples, isolated elderly people, overseasbusiness partners, etc.

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method of superimposing videocarried out by a processor, the method includes the steps of: receivinga first live video from a first user device; receiving a second livevideo from a second user device; identifying a first human element inthe first live video and a second human element in the second livevideo; combining a portion of the first live video and a portion of thesecond live video in real-time to create a superimposed video includinga frame perimeter within which a combined portion of the first livevideo and second live video is contained, wherein the superimposed videoincludes the first human element and the second human element, wherein,within the superimposed video, the first human element and the secondhuman element may concurrently occupy any location within the frameperimeter; and transmitting the superimposed video to at least one ofthe first user device and the second user device.

In some examples, in response to real-time movement by the first humanelement in the first live video and the second human element in thesecond live video, contact is simulated between the first human elementand the second human element in the superimposed video.

In other examples, in response to real-time movement by the first humanelement in the first live video and the second human element in thesecond live video, the first human element is superimposed upon thesecond human element in the superimposed video such that the first humanelement obscures at least a portion of the second human element.

In some examples, the first user device is a mobile computing device, inothers, it is a personal computer. In some examples, the first livevideo is captured by a camera of the first user device. In otherexamples, the first live video is captured by at least two cameras ofthe first user device simultaneously.

In other examples, the first live video is captured by a rear facingcamera of the first user device, the second live video is captured by afront facing camera of the second user device, and the first humanelement obscures at least a portion of the second human element in thetransmitted superimposed video. In still others, the first live video iscaptured by a rear facing camera of the first user device, the secondlive video is captured by a rear facing camera of the second userdevice, and the first human element obscures at least a portion of thesecond human element in the transmitted superimposed video.Alternatively, the first live video may be captured by a front facingcamera of the first user device, the second live video is captured by afront facing camera of the second user device, and the first humanelement obscures at least a portion of the second human element in thetransmitted superimposed video.

Yet another embodiment may feature a computer-implemented system forsuperimposing video, comprising: a central server featuring a processor,memory, and networking interface; a first user device featuring acamera, processor, memory, and networking interface; a second userdevice featuring a camera, processor, memory, and networking interface;wherein the central server, receives a first live video from a firstuser device and a second live video from a second user device,identifies a first human element in the first video and a second humanelement in the second video, combines a portion of the first video and aportion of the second video in real-time to create a superimposed videoincluding a frame perimeter within which a combined portion of the firstvideo and second video is contained, wherein the superimposed videoincludes the first human element and the second human element, wherein,within the superimposed video, the first human element and the secondhuman element may concurrently occupy any location within the frameperimeter, and transmits the superimposed video to at least one of thefirst user device and the second user device.

This system may, in response to real-time movement by the first humanelement in the first live video and the second human element in thesecond live video, contact is simulated between the first human elementand the second human element in the superimposed video. The system mayalso, in response to real-time movement by the first human element inthe first live video and the second human element in the second livevideo, the first human element is superimposed upon the second humanelement in the superimposed video such that the first human elementobscures at least a portion of the second human element.

The system may run on a smartphone or desktop computer, wherein thefirst live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the first userdevice, the second live video is captured by a front facing camera ofthe second user device, and the first human element obscures at least aportion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposedvideo. Alternatively, the first live video may be captured by a rearfacing camera of the first user device, the second live video iscaptured by a rear facing camera of the second user device, and thefirst human element obscures at least a portion of the second humanelement in the transmitted superimposed video. Additionally, the firstlive video may be captured by a front facing camera of the first userdevice, the second live video is captured by a front facing camera ofthe second user device, and the first human element obscures at least aportion of the second human element in the transmitted superimposedvideo.

In some examples of the systems and methods described herein, thesuperimposed video may simply be the human element of both callers' livevideo feeds superimposed together. In another example, it may be thehuman element of one caller's live video feed superimposed over the fulllive video feed from the second caller. It is contemplated that there isa technical advantage to just overlaying one identified human element,rather than selecting two human elements. For example, just overlayingone identified human element over the full video feed of the othercaller requires less computing resources and ideally results in lesslatency.

Embodiments of the presently disclosed system may also include augmentedreality functionality. This augmented reality functionality may beincorporated into video calls carried out by the system in the form ofaugmented reality elements. Such elements may be augmented realityobjects, environments, and/or effects added to the superimposed videogenerated by the system. The augmented reality objects may be anytwo-dimensional or three-dimensional object, cartoon, emoji, animatedgraphics interchange format files (.gif files), digital images, avatars,etc. added into a video call by the system. Augmented realityenvironments and/or effects may also be incorporated by the systemwithin a given call. For example, if an end user was to place ananimated three-dimensional insect augmented reality object into a givenvideo call carried out by the system, additional buzzing sound augmentedreality effects might also be added by the system into the finalsuperimposed video generated.

Another example, continuing with the insect object mentioned above couldbe an end user selecting a jungle themed augmented reality environmentin which to carry out a video call. The system may place the humanelements from each call participant upon a jungle background, add junglesound effects, and have augmented reality bug objects all appear withinthe final super imposed video generated by the system.

The augmented reality elements (objects, environments, and/or effects)may be passive or active. If the augmented reality elements are passive,they merely add visual effects to the call. If, however, the augmentedelements are active, the human elements may be able to interact withthese elements (and environment, effects, etc.). For example, if the bugobject mentioned above is active in nature, end users may be able toswat the bug or smash it. Such interactions maybe be carried out via theactual physical movement of the human elements within the frameperimeter of the superimposed video generated by the system. Additionalaugmented reality effects may also be generated from such interactions.For instance, if water balloon augmented reality elements are added bythe system, end users may “toss” these balloons at one another by handmovement. Users may also try to dodge the water balloons via physicalmovement but if a balloon element runs into another human element once“thrown”, it will burst and then leave whatever human element itcontacted covered in augmented reality water and/or result in a wetappearance augmented reality effect being applied to the contactedelement(s). This same sort of interaction could also occur with a boxingglove augmented reality object used to “punch” the face human element ofanother user; leaving the face element with a black eye effect.

A given augmented reality element may also be acted upon by two or morehuman elements at once. For example, if there was a rope augmentedreality object, two human hand elements may be able to grasp oppositeends of the rope and have a tug of war. Another example could be that ofa ninja enemy augmented reality object that two or more end users couldbeat up simultaneously. Movement and the relative position of all visualelements within the frame perimeter of a video call carried out by thesystem may be tracked by a spatial recognition algorithm. This algorithmmay track movement speed, acceleration, and momentum of all visualelements (human elements, augmented reality elements, background, etc.)in real time.

Yet another example of the present invention is a computer-implementedmethod of superimposing video carried out by a processor, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving a first live video from a first userdevice; receiving a second live video from a second user device;identifying and extracting, on a continuous basis, a first human elementfrom the first live video using a detection algorithm; combining thefirst human element and a portion or all of the second live video inreal-time to create a superimposed video including a frame perimeterwithin which the superimposed video includes the first human element anda second human element from the second live video, wherein, within thesuperimposed video, the first human element and the second human elementmay concurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter;inserting an augmented reality element within the frame perimeter suchthat the superimposed video includes the first human element extractedfrom the first live video, the second human element from the second livevideo, and the augmented reality object; and transmitting thesuperimposed video to at least one of the first user device and thesecond user device; wherein the first live video is captured by a rearfacing camera of the first user device and, in response to movement ofthe first human element relative to the first user device, the firsthuman element obscures at least a portion of the second human element inthe transmitted superimposed video. In some examples, in response toreal-time movement by the first human element relative to the first userdevice and the second human element relative to the second user device,the method simulates contact between the first human element and thesecond human element in the superimposed video.

In another example, the present invention is embodied in acomputer-implemented system for superimposing video, including: acentral server featuring a processor, memory, and networking interface;a first user device featuring a camera, processor, memory, andnetworking interface; a second user device featuring a camera,processor, memory, and networking interface; wherein one of the centralserver, the first user device's processor, and the second user device'sprocessor: receives a first live video from a first user device and asecond live video from a second user device; identifies and extracts, ona continuous basis, a first human element from the first live videousing a detection algorithm; combines the first human element with aportion or all of the second live video in real-time to create asuperimposed video including a frame perimeter within which thesuperimposed video includes the first human element and a second humanelement from the second live video, wherein, within the superimposedvideo, the first human element and the second human element mayconcurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter; inserts anaugmented reality element within the frame perimeter such that thesuperimposed video includes the first human element extracted from thefirst live video, the second human element from the second live video,and the augmented reality object; and transmits the superimposed videoto at least one of the first user device and the second user device;wherein the first live video is captured by a rear facing camera of thefirst user device and, in response to movement of the first humanelement relative to the first user device, the first human elementobscures at least a portion of the second human element in thetransmitted superimposed video.

In embodiments of the examples above, the first user device is a mobilecomputing device. In other examples, the first user device is a personalcomputer. The first live video may be captured by at least two camerasof the first user device simultaneously. The second live video may becaptured by a front facing camera of the second user device. The secondlive video may be captured by a rear facing camera of the second userdevice. The detection algorithm may include any one or more offoreground and background separation, proximity recognition, Chromakeying, hand-arm/body detection, background subtraction, and a Kalmanfilter.

In some examples, the augmented reality element is passive within thesuperimposed video. In other examples, the augmented reality element isactive and responsive within the superimposed video to movement of thefirst human element relative to the first user device and to movement ofthe second human element relative to the second user device.

An advantage of the present invention is that the application givesanother dimension to traditional video calls and allows friends andfamilies that are apart from each other to not only experience thesensation of being able to touch their loved ones from anywhere with aninternet connection, but also become immersed in augmented reality. Thepresent invention could allow someone climbing Mt. Everest to callsomeone in the depths of the Amazon rainforest and both parties couldsimulate being beside one another and also virtually place comicalstickers upon one another, etc.

Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the examples willbe set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings or may be learned byproduction or operation of the examples. The objects and advantages ofthe concepts may be realized and attained by means of the methodologies,instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord withthe present concepts, by way of example only, not by way of limitations.In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similarelements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a multi-feed video call system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an end userdevice that may be used in the system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a computer-implemented method ofsuperimposing video carried out by a processor.

FIG. 4 illustrates the multi-feed video call system superimposingvideos.

FIG. 5A illustrates a One Way Touch call using the multi-feed video callsystem.

FIG. 5B is a hybrid schematic-flowchart showing how the components ofthe multi-feed video call system may cooperate to accomplish a One WayTouch call using the process shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5C illustrates a user device displaying a superimposed video in aOne Way Touch call.

FIG. 6A illustrates a Front Touch call using the multi-feed video callsystem.

FIG. 6B is a hybrid schematic-flowchart showing how the components ofthe multi-feed video call system may cooperate to accomplish a FrontTouch call using the process shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7A is an overview diagram of a Rear Touch call using the multi-feedvideo call system.

FIG. 7B is a hybrid schematic-flowchart showing how the components ofthe multi-feed video call system may cooperate to accomplish a RearTouch call using the process shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8A is an overview diagram of a Multi-Way Touch call using themulti-feed video call system.

FIG. 8B is a hybrid schematic-flowchart showing how the components ofthe multi-feed video call system may cooperate to accomplish a Multi-WayTouch call using the process shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 9A is a flowchart illustrating a computer-implemented method ofsuperimposing video featuring augmented reality element(s) carried outby a processor.

FIG. 9B is a diagram of an augmented reality video call carried out bythe system.

FIG. 9C is a diagram of an augmented reality video call carried out bythe system featuring an augmented reality background.

FIG. 9D is a diagram demonstrating how a human element may interact withan augmented reality element during an augmented reality video call.

FIG. 9E illustrates a superimposed video created by the multi-sourcevideo superimposition system 10 featuring augmented reality elements.

FIG. 9F illustrates another example of an augmented reality elementbeing added to a superimposed video feed by the multi-source videosuperimposition system.

FIG. 9G illustrates yet another example of augmented reality element(s)being added to a superimposed video feed by the multi-source videosuperimposition system.

FIG. 9H is a flowchart of an augmented reality element being added to avideo call using the multi-feed video call system.

FIG. 10 is an overview diagram of an augmented reality enhanced videocall using the multi-feed video call system and a virtual realityheadset.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a multi-feed video call system 10. Asshown in FIG. 1, the system 10 features multiple end users' devices 20.Each end user device 20 (e.g., a laptop computer, smartphone, tablet,etc.) sends video 210 to a central server 30 from an end user devicecamera subsystem 116 through its wireless communication subsystem(s) 120and receives video 210 from the central server 30 to be displayed andoutput through the end user device I/O subsystem 128 and the end userdevice audio subsystem 124. As shown in FIG. 2, a camera subsystem 116may, for example, include front 118 and back 119 cameras of asmartphone.

As described further herein, a primary object of the system 10 is toenable a portion of a first live video 212 to be superimposed upon asecond live video 214 (illustrated in FIG. 4) to produce a superimposedvideo 310 (illustrated in FIG. 4) in which human elements (e.g., a firsthuman element 216 and second human element 218—also seen in FIG. 4) fromeach of the first live video 212 and the second live video 214 mayinteract and be displayed in any position relative to each other tosimulate the appearance of the human elements from each of the firstlive video 212 and the second live video 214 to be present in the samephysical space.

As shown in FIG. 1, the central server 30 includes a processor 31 andmemory 32 for carrying out the superimposition of video 210 (e.g.,combining portions of a first live video 212 and a second live video 214into the superimposed video 310), as well as a networking interface 33for communication with user devices 20, as described further herein. Thesuperimposed video 310 (shown in FIG. 4) created by the server 30 isthen transmitted back to the user devices 20. The superimposed video 310simulates users being physically in each other's presence.

It should be noted that in the example described above, the analysis,processing, and transformation of video 210 is carried out on thecentral server 30. In alternative embodiments, some, or all, of suchactions may be carried out on one or more of the end user devices 20.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an end userdevice 20 that may be used in the system shown in FIG. 1. In the exampleshown in FIG. 2, the multi-feed video call system 10 runs as a videoconferencing application embodied in video conferencing software 164 onthe end user device 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the end user device 20 maybea mobile device, such as a smartphone, running video conferencingsoftware 164 to provide the functionality described herein. A user mayinstall the video conferencing software 164 on his or her end userdevice 20 via Apple's App Store, the Android Market, etc. The end userdevice 20 may include a wireless communication subsystem 120 tocommunicate with the central server 30 running the video conferencingsoftware 164.

The user device 20 may include a memory interface 102, controllers 103,such as one or more data processors, image processors and/or centralprocessors, and a peripherals interface 106. The memory interface 102,the one or more controllers 103 and/or the peripherals interface 106 canbe separate components or can be integrated in one or more integratedcircuits. The various components in the user device 20 can be coupled byone or more communication buses or signal lines, as will be recognizedby those skilled in the art.

Sensors, devices, and additional subsystems can be coupled to theperipherals interface 106 to facilitate various functionalities. Forexample, a motion sensor 108 (e.g., a gyroscope), a light sensor 163,and positioning sensors 112 (e.g., GPS receiver, accelerometer) can becoupled to the peripherals interface 106 to facilitate the orientation,lighting, and positioning functions described further herein. Othersensors 114 can also be connected to the peripherals interface 106, suchas a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a biometric sensor, orother sensing device, to facilitate related functionalities.

A camera subsystem 116 includes a physical camera (e.g., a chargedcoupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)optical sensor) which can be utilized to facilitate camera functions,such as recording photographs and video clips. Modern smartphones andother devices typically feature more than one physical camera operatedby the camera subsystem 116. Such cameras may be located on the front ofthe device 20—the side of the device with a screen (e.g., front cameras118) or rear of the device 20—the side opposite the screen (e.g., rearfacing cameras 119).

Communication functions can be facilitated through a network interface,such as one or more wireless communication subsystems 120, which caninclude radio frequency receivers and transmitters and/or optical (e.g.,infrared) receivers and transmitters. The specific design andimplementation of the communication subsystem 120 can depend on thecommunication network(s) over which the user device 20 is intended tooperate. For example, the user device 20 can include communicationsubsystems 120 designed to operate over a GSM network, a GPRS network,an EDGE network, a Wi-Fi or Imax network, and a Bluetooth network. Inparticular, the wireless communication subsystems 120 may includehosting protocols such that the user device 20 may be configured as abase station for other wireless devices.

An audio subsystem 122 can be coupled to a speaker 124 and a microphone126 to facilitate voice-enabled functions, such as voice recognition,voice replication, digital recording, and telephony functions.

The I/O subsystem 128 may include a touch screen controller 130 and/orother input controller(s) 132. The touch-screen controller 130 can becoupled to a touch screen 134, such as a touch screen. The touch screen134 and touch screen controller 130 can, for example, detect contact andmovement, or break thereof, using any of a plurality of touchsensitivity technologies, including but not limited to capacitive,resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well asother proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one ormore points of contact with the touch screen 134. The other inputcontroller(s) 132 can be coupled to other input/control devices 136,such as one or more buttons, rocker switches, thumb-wheel, infraredport, USB port, and/or a pointer device such as a stylus. The one ormore buttons (not shown) can include an up/down button for volumecontrol of the speaker 124 and/or the microphone 126.

The memory interface 102 may be coupled to memory 104. The memory 104can include high-speed random access memory and/or non-volatile memory,such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, one or more opticalstorage devices, and/or flash memory (e.g., NAND, NOR). The memory 104may store operating system instructions 140, such as Darwin, RTXC,LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS, ANDROID, BLACKBERRY OS, BLACKBERRY 10, WINDOWS,or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks. The operating systeminstructions 140 may include instructions for handling basic systemservices and for performing hardware dependent tasks. In someimplementations, the operating system instructions 140 can be a kernel(e.g., UNIX kernel).

The memory 104 may also store communication instructions 142 tofacilitate communicating with one or more additional devices, one ormore computers and/or one or more servers. The memory 104 may includegraphical user interface instructions 144 to facilitate graphic userinterface processing; sensor processing instructions 146 to facilitatesensor-related processing and functions; phone instructions 148 tofacilitate phone-related processes and functions; electronic messaginginstructions 150 to facilitate electronic-messaging related processesand functions; web browsing instructions 152 to facilitate webbrowsing-related processes and functions; media processing instructions154 to facilitate media processing-related processes and functions;GPS/Navigation instructions 156 to facilitate GPS and navigation-relatedprocesses and instructions; camera instructions 158 to facilitatecamera-related processes and functions; and/or other softwareinstructions 160 to facilitate other processes and functions (e.g.,access control management functions, etc.). The memory 104 may alsostore other software instructions controlling other processes andfunctions of the user device 20 as will be recognized by those skilledin the art. In some implementations, the media processing instructions154 are divided into audio processing instructions and video processinginstructions to facilitate audio processing-related processes andfunctions and video processing-related processes and functions,respectively. An activation record and International Mobile EquipmentIdentity (IMEI) 162 or similar hardware identifier can also be stored inmemory 104. As described above, the video conferencing software 164 isalso stored in the memory 104 and run by the controllers 103.

Each of the above identified instructions and applications cancorrespond to a set of instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed herein. These instructions need not be implemented as separatesoftware programs, procedures, or modules. The memory 104 can includeadditional instructions or fewer instructions. Furthermore, variousfunctions of the user device 20 may be implemented in hardware and/or insoftware, including in one or more signal processing and/or applicationspecific integrated circuits. Accordingly, the user device 20, as shownin FIG. 2, may be adapted to perform any combination of thefunctionality described herein.

Aspects of the systems and methods described herein are controlled byone or more controllers 103. The one or more controllers 103 may beadapted run a variety of application programs, access and store data,including accessing and storing data in associated databases, and enableone or more interactions via the user device 20. Typically, the one ormore controllers 103 are implemented by one or more programmable dataprocessing devices. The hardware elements, operating systems, andprogramming languages of such devices are conventional in nature, and itis presumed that those skilled in the art are adequately familiartherewith.

For example, the one or more controllers 103 may be a PC basedimplementation of a central control processing system utilizing acentral processing unit (CPU), memories and an interconnect bus. The CPUmay contain a single microprocessor, or it may contain a plurality ofmicrocontrollers 103 for configuring the CPU as a multi-processorsystem. The memories include a main memory, such as a dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) and cache, as well as a read only memory, such as aPROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, or the like. The system may also include anyform of volatile or non-volatile memory. In operation, the main memoryis non-transitory and stores at least portions of instructions forexecution by the CPU and data for processing in accord with the executedinstructions.

The one or more controllers 103 may further include appropriateinput/output ports for interconnection with one or more output displays(e.g., monitors, printers, touchscreen 134, motion-sensing input device108, etc.) and one or more input mechanisms (e.g., keyboard, mouse,voice, touch, bioelectric devices, magnetic reader, RFID reader, barcodereader, touchscreen 134, motion-sensing input device 108, etc.) servingas one or more user interfaces for the processor. For example, the oneor more controllers 103 may include a graphics subsystem to drive theoutput display. The links of the peripherals to the system may be wiredconnections or use wireless communications.

Although summarized above as a smartphone-type implementation, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the one or more controllers 103also encompasses systems such as host computers, servers, workstations,network terminals, PCs, and the like. Further one or more controllers103 may be embodied in a user device 20, such as a mobile electronicdevice, like a smartphone or tablet computer. In fact, the use of theterm controller is intended to represent a broad category of componentsthat are well known in the art.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a computer-implemented method ofsuperimposing video 210 carried out by a processor 31. As shown in FIG.3, the method of superimposing video 210 carried out by a processor 31begins with the processor 31, at a first step 240 receiving a first livevideo 212 from a first user's device 20. Reception 240 by a processor 31is illustrated in FIG. 4, wherein the user device 20 of a first usertransmits a first live video 212 (in this case a video 210 captured bythe user's rear camera 119) to a processor 31 containing central server30. The second step 242 of superimposing video 210 carried out by aprocessor 31 is receiving a second live video 214 from a second user'sdevice 20. Again referring to FIG. 4, reception of the second live video214 from a second user's device 20 by a processor 31 is illustrated(with the second live video 214 being captured by the second user'sfront camera 118). The third step 244 of this method calls for theprocessor 31 to identify a first human element 216 in the first video212 and/or a second human element 218 in a second video 214 by use of adetection/recognition algorithm. Such human elements 216, 218 areillustrated in FIG. 4 with the first human element 216 being a hand(captured by the first user's rear camera 119) and the second humanelement 218 being a face (captured by the second user's front camera118).

The fourth step 246 calls for the system 10 to continuously identify andextract a first human element 216 (identified in the first video 212)and/or second human element 218 (identified in the second video 214)from their respective videos via use of the detection/recognitionalgorithm. Extraction may be carried out by the detection/recognitionalgorithm or a separate piece of programming and the methodologies usedto extract a given human element may vary depending on technologicalresources available to a given set of end users. For example, if thesystem 10 was utilized by users with slower computing components, theextraction methodology used (e.g., foreground and background separation,proximity recognition, Chroma keying, hand-arm/body detection,background subtraction, and/or a Kalman filter) may be automaticallyselected by the system to utilize as little processor 31 power aspossible.

The fifth step 248 of the computer-implemented method of superimposingvideo 210 carried out by a processor 31 is combing a portion of thefirst video 213 and a portion of the second video 215 in real-time tocreate a superimposed video 310 including a frame perimeter 309 withinwhich a combined portion of the first video 212 and second video 214 iscontained, wherein the superimposed video 310 includes the extractedfirst human element 216 and the second human element 218, wherein,within the superimposed video 310, the first human element 216 and thesecond human element 218 may concurrently occupy any location within theframe perimeter 309 and the positions of the human elements 216 and/or218 within the frame perimeter 309 are responsive to movement of thesehuman elements 216 and/or 218 relative to their corresponding end userdevices 20. It should be noted that the system may unilaterally extracta human element from one video (e.g., the first human element 216 orsecond human element 218, in this example) without a human element beingpresent in both videos 212 and 214.

A key feature of the multi-feed video call system 10 is that, within thesuperimposed video 310, the first human element 216 and the second humanelement 218, are each able to occupy any portion of the superimposedvideo 310. In the example shown in FIG. 4, this feature is representedby the ability of either the first human element 216 or the second humanelement 218 to occupy any space within the frame perimeter 309 and theframe perimeter 309 is shown to occupy the entirety of the display onthe device 20. While this is one contemplated example, it is understoodthat the frame perimeter 309 for the superimposed video 310 mayotherwise occupy a smaller portion of the display on the device 20. Thecritical concept relating to the ability of either the first humanelement 216 or the second human element 218 to occupy any space withinthe frame perimeter 309 is that the first human element 216 and thesecond human element 218 may occupy adjacent positions on the screen,may separate from each other, and may pass in front of or behind eachother, or any be represented by any combination of these relativepositions. For example, some portion of the first human element 216 maybe shown to be touching the second human element 218 while otherportions of the first human element 216 may be shown to be separatedfrom the second human element 218.

The portion of the first video 213 and a portion of the second video 215combined in real-time may be only the extracted first human element 216and second human element 218, or can include more video 210 from thelive videos 212, 213. This additional video 210, beyond the humanelements 216, 218 may include a background 219. Such a background 219 isillustrated in FIG. 4 (in this case a plain solid color), with the humanelements 216, 218 able to occupy any space within the frame perimeter309 and move independently of each other and the background 219. Thebackground 219 can be generated by the system 10 of captured by a device20 camera 118, 119 and extracted from either of the live videos 212,213.In the example shown in FIG. 4, the first human element 216 (a hand) issuperimposed on top of the second human element 218 (a face) with bothelements 216, 218 being able to occupy the same location at the sametime. In this example, since the first human element 216 is superimposedby the processor 31 over the second human element 218, the hand is ableto obscure the face in the superimposed video 310. The frame perimeter309, also illustrated in FIG. 4, is the defined size of the superimposedvideo 310 (e.g., the aspect ratio, etc.) which may be automaticallydetermined by the processor 31 based off the videos 210 provided to it.

The final step 250 of the computer-implemented method of superimposingvideo 210 carried out by a processor 31 is transmitting the superimposedvideo 310 to a user device 20. Such transmission is shown in FIG. 4, inwhich the superimposed video 310 is displayed on the first user andsecond user's devices 20. Worth noting here is that the example shown inFIG. 4 utilizes one user device's 20 front camera 118 and one userdevice's 20 back camera 119, but the present invention may also utilizemultiple cameras of a device 20 facing the same direction to capturevideo 210 concurrently. One such device 20 with multiple cameras facingthe same direction is the iPhone 7, which is capable of blending orstitching images captured by is multiple cameras together to providewide angle images, greater image quality, etc. Such functionality may beutilized by the current invention to improve the quality of video callscarried out upon it.

Additionally, FIG. 4 demonstrates two human elements 216, 218 which mayoccupy the same location within a frame perimeter 309 at the same time.This results in one of the human elements 216 being able to obscure theother 218. The present system 10 may also be configured in a mannerwhich prevents the identified and extracted human elements 216, 218 fromobscuring one another. In practical terms, the human elements 216, 218would be treated as “solid” instead of one element 216 being able topass over and obscure another 218, with the background 219, frameperimeter 309, etc. being automatically adjusted by the system 10 toprevent such overlap.

FIG. 5A is an overview diagram of a One Way Touch call using themulti-feed video call system 10. As shown in FIG. 5A, a superimposedreal-time video 310 of one user's front camera 118 (Caller 2) andanother user's rear camera 119 (Caller 1) is displayed to both users. Inthis example, the video 210 from Caller 2's device's front camera 118 isshown on both Caller 1 and Caller 2's device 20 screens, with the video210 from Caller 1's device's back camera 119 superimposed over Caller2's front camera 118 video 210 allowing Caller 1 to “touch” (i.e., seetheir hand or other human element(s) superimposed upon the face and/orbody of another user) Caller 2 via an illusion created by thesuperimposition of the video 210. In this example, the first humanelement 216 is associated with Caller 1's hand and the second humanelement 218 is associated with Caller 2's face, neck, and upper torso.It should be noted however the labels regarding the first human element216 and second human element 218 could be reversed in this example (andthe examples seen in FIGS. 6A, 7A, and 8A) as which human element islabeled first and second does not automatically dictate which elementwill be superimposed over the other.

FIG. 5B is a flowchart of a One Way Touch call using the multi-feedvideo call system 10. As shown in FIG. 5B, the video 210 which will besuperimposed by the system 10 originate on respective caller's end userdevices 20. One user's (Caller 1's) rear camera 119 and another user's(Caller 2's) front camera 118 send video 210 to a centralized sever 30.In this embodiment, as well as the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 3C,4B, 5B, and 6B, the system 10 may automatically determine which user'svideo 210 is superimposed over the other (e.g., which human element(hand, face, torso, etc.) is superimposed over the other humanelement(s) displayed in the superimposed video 310). In otherembodiments, the determination of which human element(s) of video 210are superimposed upon one another may also be manually set by theparticipants of a given video call or the system 10 may be set to notsuperimpose human elements. The video 210 may be sent via the internetor any other functionally useful means, with the central server 30receiving the separate video 210, analyzing them, removing extraneousinformation from the video 210 (e.g., solid colored backgrounds, etc.),and combining the two respective video 210 into one superimposed video310. The superimposed video 310 is then sent back to the user device's20 involved in the video chat via the internet or any other functionallyuseful means.

In this example, the first live video 212 is associated with Caller 1'sand the second live video 214 is associated with Caller 2. It should benoted however the labels regarding the live videos 212, 214 could bereversed in this example (and the examples seen in FIGS. 6B, 7B, and 8B)as which video 212, 214 is labeled first and second does notautomatically dictate which will be superimposed over the other.

FIG. 5C is a diagram of a user device 20 displaying a One Way Touchcall. As shown in FIG. 5C, an end user device 20 may display a superimposed video 310 which features, in this example, the video 210 fromCaller 2's (as shown in FIG. 3A) device's front camera 118 with thevideo 210 from Caller 1's (as shown in FIG. 3A) device's back camera 119superimposed over Caller 2's front camera 118 video 210 allowing Caller1 to “touch” (i.e., see their hand or other human element(s)superimposed upon the face and/or body of another user) Caller 2 via anillusion shown within the superimposed video 310.

FIG. 6A is an overview diagram of a Front Touch call using themulti-feed video call system 10. As shown in FIG. 6A, a superimposedreal time video 310 of both users' front camera 118 (Caller 1 and Caller2) is displayed to both users. In this example, the video 210 fromCaller 1's device's front camera 118 is shown on both Caller 1 andCaller 2's device 20 screens, with the video 210 from Caller 2'sdevice's front camera 118 superimposed over Caller 2's front camera 118video 210, allowing the users to appear to be physically side by side.

FIG. 6B is a flowchart of a Front Touch call using the multi-feed videocall system 10. As shown in FIG. 6B, the video 210 which will besuperimposed by the system 10 originate on respective caller's end userdevices 20. Both users' (Caller 1 and Caller 2) front camera 118 sendvideo 210 to a centralized server 30. The video 210 may be sent via theinternet or any other functionally useful means, with the central server30 receiving the separate video 210, analyzing them, removing extraneousinformation from the video 210 (e.g., solid colored backgrounds, etc.),and combining the two respective video 210 into one superimposed video310. The superimposed video 310 is then sent back to the user device's20 involved in the video chat via the internet or any other functionallyuseful means.

FIG. 7A is an overview diagram of a Rear Touch call using the multi-feedvideo call system 10. As shown in FIG. 7A, a superimposed real-timevideo 310 of both users' rear cameras 119 (Caller 1 and Caller 2) isdisplayed to both users. In this example, the video 210 from Caller 1'sdevice's rear camera is shown on both Caller 1 and Caller 2's device 20screens, with the video 210 from Caller 2's device's rear camera 119superimposed over Caller 1's rear camera video 210, forming thesuperimposed video 310, and allowing the users to appear to bephysically holding hands, etc.

FIG. 7B is a flowchart of a Rear Touch call using the multi-feed videocall system 10. As shown in FIG. 7B, the video 210 which will besuperimposed by the system 10 originate on respective caller's end userdevices 20. Both users' (Caller 1 and Caller 2) rear camera 119 sendvideo 210 to a centralized server 30. The video 210 may be sent via theinternet or any other functionally useful means, with the central server30 receiving the separate video 210, analyzing them, removing extraneousinformation from the videos 210 (e.g., solid colored backgrounds, etc.),and combining the two respective video 210 into one superimposed video310. The superimposed video 310 is then sent back to the user device's20 involved in the video chat via the internet or any other functionallyuseful means.

FIG. 8A is an overview diagram of a Multi-Way Touch call using themulti-feed video call system 10. As shown in FIG. 8A, a superimposedreal-time video 310 of a first user's front camera 118 (Caller 1) and asecond user's rear camera 119 (Caller 2) is displayed to the seconduser, with a superimposed real time video 310 of the video of the seconduser's front camera 118 (Caller 2) and the first user's rear camera 119(Caller 1) displayed to the first user. This allows both users to“touch” the other user simultaneously with the visual effect beingenabled by the superimposition of video.

FIG. 8B is a flowchart of a Multi-Way Touch call using the multi-feedvideo call system 10. As shown in FIG. 8B, the video 210 which will besuperimposed by the system 10 originate on respective caller's end userdevices 20. Both user's rear camera 119 and front camera 118 send video210 to a centralized server 30. The video may be sent via the internetor any other functionally useful means, with the central server 30receiving the separate video 210, analyzing them, removing extraneousinformation from the video 210 (e.g., solid colored backgrounds, etc.),and combining the four respective video 210 into two superimposed video310 (as discussed in FIG. 8A). The superimposed video 310 are then sentback to the respective user device's 20 involved in the video chat viathe internet or any other functionally useful means.

FIG. 9A is a flowchart illustrating a computer-implemented method ofsuperimposing video 210 featuring augmented reality element(s) 410carried out by a processor 31. As shown in FIG. 9A, the method ofsuperimposing video 310 carried out by a processor 31 begins with aprocessor 31, at a first step 401, receiving a first live video 210 froma first user's device 20. Reception by a processor 31 is illustrated inFIG. 9H, wherein the user device 20 of a first user transmits a firstlive video 212 (in this case a video captured by the user's rear camera119) to a processor 31 containing central server 30. The second step 402of superimposing video 210 carried out by a processor 31 is receiving asecond live video 214 from a second user's device 20. Again referring toFIG. 9H, reception of the second live video 214 from a second user'sdevice 20 by a processor 31 is illustrated (with the second live video214 being captured by the second user's rear camera 119). The third step403 of this method calls for the processor 31 (within the server 30) toidentify a first human element 216 in the first video 212 and/or asecond human element 218 in a second video 214 by use of adetection/recognition algorithm. Such human elements are illustrated inFIGS. 9B-9G with the first human element 216 being a hand (captured bythe first user's rear camera 119) and the second human element 218 beinga face (captured by the second user's front camera 118) or hand(captured by the second user's rear camera 119) in these examples. Ahuman element may be any body part or prosthetic and can even be thebody parts of a non-human creature (e.g., dog, cat, gorilla, etc.),however. The system 10 may also only capture a human element from oneend user (216 or 218) and transmit it to both.

The fourth step 404 calls for the system 10 to continuously identify andextract a first human element 216 (identified in the first video 212)and/or second human element 218 (identified in the second video 214)from their respective videos. Extraction may be carried out by thedetection/recognition algorithm or a separate piece of programming andthe methodologies used to extract a given human element may varydepending on technological resources available to a given set of endusers.

The fifth step 405 of the computer-implemented method of superimposingvideo 210 carried out by a processor 31 is combining a portion of thefirst video 212 and a portion of the second video 214 in real-time tocreate a superimposed video including a frame perimeter 309 within whicha combined portion of the first video 212 and second video 214 iscontained, wherein the superimposed video 310 includes the first humanelement 216 and the second human element 218, wherein, within thesuperimposed video 310, the first human element 216 and the second humanelement 218 may concurrently occupy any location within the frameperimeter 309 and the positions of the human elements 216 and/or 218within the frame perimeter 309 are responsive to movement of these humanelements 216 and/or 218 relative to their corresponding end user devices20. As mentioned above, a human element (216 or 218) may be capturedunilaterally by the system without the need for the human element ofanother to be present for capture, extraction, transmission, etc. tooccur.

The sixth step 406 of the method of superimposing video featuringaugmented reality element(s) is combining the superimposed video 310(generated in step 404) with at least one augmented reality element 410.Such elements can be seen illustrated in FIGS. 9B-9G and may be used toenhance or alter the human elements 216, 218 seen in the superimposedvideo 310.

The final step 407 of the computer-implemented method of superimposingvideo 210 featuring augmented reality element(s) 410 carried out by aprocessor 31 is transmitting the superimposed video 310 to a user device20. Such transmission is shown in FIG. 9E, in which the superimposedvideo 310 is displayed on the first user and second user's devices 20.Worth noting here is that the example shown in FIG. 9E utilizes one userdevice's 20 front camera 118 and one user device's 20 rear camera 119,but the present invention may also utilize multiple cameras of a device20 facing the same direction to capture video concurrently. One suchdevice with multiple cameras facing the same direction is the iPhone 7,which is capable of blending or stitching images captured by is multiplecameras together to provide wide angle images, greater image quality,etc. The present invention may also utilize any and all other cameras ofa given device or multiple devices to capture video concurrently.

FIG. 9B is a diagram of an augmented reality video call carried out bythe system 10. Illustrated in FIG. 9B, wherein the user device 20 of afirst user transmits a first live video 212 (in this case a video 210captured by the user's rear camera 119) to a processor 31 containingcentral server 30. Reception of the second live video 214 from a seconduser's device 20 by a processor 31 is illustrated (with the second livevideo 214 being captured by the second user's front camera 118). Theprocessor 31 then identifies a first human element 216 in the firstvideo 212 and a second human element 218 in a second video 214. Suchhuman elements 216, 218 are illustrated in FIG. 4 with the first humanelement 216 being a hand (captured by the first user's rear camera 119)and the second human element 218 being a face (captured by the seconduser's front camera 118).

A key feature of the augmented reality multi-feed video call system 10is that, within the superimposed video 310, the first human element 216and the second human element 218, are each able to occupy any portion ofthe superimposed video 310. In the example shown in FIG. 9B, thisfeature is represented by the ability of either the first human element216 or the second human element 218 to occupy any space within the frameperimeter 309 and the frame perimeter 309 is shown to occupy theentirety of the display on the device 20. While this is one contemplatedexample, it is understood that the frame perimeter 309 for thesuperimposed video 310 may otherwise occupy a smaller portion of thedisplay on the device 20. The critical concept relating to the abilityof either the first human element 216 or the second human element 218 tooccupy any space within the frame perimeter 309 is that the first humanelement 216 and the second human element 218 may occupy adjacentpositions on the screen, may separate from each other, and may pass infront of or behind each other, or any be represented by any combinationof these relative positions. For example, some portion of the firsthuman element 216 may be shown to be touching the second human element218 while other portions of the first human element 216 may be shown tobe separated from the second human element 218.

The portion of the first video 213 and a portion of the second video 215combined in real-time may be only the first human element 216 and secondhuman element 218, or can include more video 210 from the live videos212, 213. This additional video 210, beyond the human elements 216, 218may include a background 219 and augmented reality element(s) 410. Sucha background 219 is illustrated in FIG. 9B (in this case a plain solidcolor), with the human elements 216, 218 able to occupy any space withinthe frame perimeter 309 and move independently of each other and thebackground 219.

The background 219 can be generated by the system 10 or captured by adevice 20 camera 118, 119. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the firsthuman element 216 (a hand) is superimposed on top of the second humanelement 218 (a face) with both elements 216, 218 being able to occupythe same location at the same time. In this example, since the firsthuman element 216 is superimposed by the processor 31 over the secondhuman element 218, the hand is able to obscure the face in thesuperimposed video 310. The frame perimeter 309, also illustrated inFIG. 4, is the defined size of the superimposed video 310 (e.g., theaspect ratio, etc.) which may be automatically determined by theprocessor 31 based off the videos 210 provided to it.

The augmented reality element 410 in this example is a hat. The hataugmented reality element 410 may be automatically placed upon theappropriate corresponding human element by the system 10 (e.g., hat onthe head, boxing glove on hand, etc.) and may also be placed anywherewithin the frame perimeter 309. The human elements 216, 218 may be setto interact with the augmented reality element 410 (e.g., bump it, pushit, smash it), pass through the object 410, or have the element 410obscured by the human elements 216 and/or 218. It should also be notedthat the human elements 216 and 218 are not the only portions of thefinal superimposed video 310 which may interact with the augmentedreality element(s) 410 with other augmented reality element(s) 410 andthe background 219 also potentially interacting with a given augmentedreality element 410.

It should also be noted the portions of live videos 213, 215 may besuperimposed upon each other first, with the augmented realityelement(s) 410 then being added in a second distinct step as shown orthe various portions (e.g., human elements 216 and 218, background 219,and/or augmented reality element(s) 410) of the final superimposed video310 may be combined all at once by the present system 10. Still yetother sequences of superimposition of the various portions of the finalsuperimposed video 310 are also possible including the system 10superimposing an augmented reality element 410 upon a human element (216or 218) from one of the portions (213 or 215) of one of the video feeds(212 or 214) before then superimposing the portions of the two videofeeds (213 and 215) upon one another.

Transmission of the superimposed video 310 is displayed on the firstuser and second user's devices 20. Worth noting here is that the exampleshown in FIG. 9B utilizes one user device's 20 front camera 118 and oneuser device's 20 back camera 119, but the present invention may alsoutilize any cameras of a device 20 facing any direction to capture video210 concurrently.

FIG. 9C is a diagram of an augmented reality video call carried out bythe system 10 featuring an augmented reality background 219. Similar tothe steps illustrated in FIG. 9B, the steps shown in FIG. 9C feature thesuperimposition of portions of two videos 213 and 215 and the additionof augmented reality elements 410. In this example, the augmentedreality elements 410 are both a hat and tropical background 219. Toachieve this effect in this example, the system 10 identifies humanelements 216 and 218 from the live video streams 212 and 214. The system10 then places the portions of the live videos 213 and 215 containingthe human elements 212 and 214 within a frame perimeter 309. The humanelements 212 and 214 may move freely within this frame perimeter 309with the system placing an augmented reality element 410 of a tropicalenvironment as the background 219. As it is sunny in tropical locations,the system 10 may also create various visual effects upon the humanelements shown within the superimposed video 310. For example, theportion of the second user's video 215 in this example features a headand upper torso as a human element 218. The face, head, and/or neckportion of this human element 218 may have a sunburn effect applied toit within the superimposed video 310. To counteract this augmentedreality effect, the first human element 216 may interact with a hataugmented reality element 410 and place the hat upon the head of thesecond human element 218. With the hat augmented reality element 410 inplace, the sunburn effect may then be removed by the system 10 withinthe superimposed video 310.

FIG. 9D is a diagram demonstrating how a human element 216 may interactwith an augmented reality element 410 during an augmented reality videocall. As shown in FIG. 9D, in this example, the augmented realityelements 410 are bugs. The bug augmented reality elements 410 may bestill or animated (e.g., crawl around the area within the frameperimeter 309). In this example, one of the human elements (hand element216 from a first video feed 212) moves to obscure one of the augmentedreality bug elements 410 from sight. The hand element 216 may simplyobscure the element momentarily or result in the system 10 displayingthe bug element 410 as being squashed by the hand element 216. Such aneffect may be achieved by monitoring the relative location of the handelement 216 and the augmented reality elements 410 within the frameperimeter 309. The system 10 may also keep track of how many bugs eachhuman element squashes as part of a competition between participants ofa video call.

It should be noted that multiple human elements can interact with theaugmented reality elements 410 during a given multi-source video call.For example, two human elements might go to squash the same bug element410 and knock the bug aside instead. In another example, the two humanelements might be able to play tug of war against one another via a ropeaugmented reality element 410 or team up together and fight augmentedreality ninja elements 410.

FIG. 9E illustrates a superimposed video 310 created by the multi-sourcevideo superimposition system 10 featuring augmented reality elements410. The superimposed video 310 shown is created from video feeds 210captured from the rear facing camera 119 of a first user and the frontfacing camera 118 of a second user. Such cameras may be integrated intoany form of computing device (i.e., end user computing devices 20) andmay include smartphones, tablets, personal computers, smart televisions,etc. These computing devices may transmit the video feed(s) 210 capturedby their respective cameras (119, 118) to a centralized server 30. Thiscentralized server 30 may be responsible for the superimposition ofvideo feeds 210 and addition of augmented reality element(s) 410 to thesuperimposed video 310 (discussed in FIGS. 9A and 9H).

The multi-source video superimposition system 10 may use a human elementdetection algorithm to identify the human elements of both users (suchas the face/eyes/head/arm/torso etc.) in their respective video feeds210. These human elements can then interact with each other in thesuperimposed video in addition to interacting with an augmented realityeffects and/or animations. Additionally, the human elements detected bythe system 10 may be placed in a frame perimeter 309 featuring augmentedreality elements 410 which enables the end users to further interactwith one another.

As shown in FIG. 9E, the system 10 enables a hand element (the firsthuman element 216) from a first user's video feed 212 to place anaugmented reality element (a baseball cap) 410 onto the head element(second human element 218) from a second user's video feed 214. Thisaction is displayed in real time to at least one end user (in this casethe first user) on their computing device 20 with all the action beingcontained within the frame perimeter 309 (that perimeter being thedimensions of the user device screen in this example).

FIG. 9F illustrates another example of an augmented reality element 410being added to a superimposed video 310 feed by the multi-source videosuperimposition system 10. As shown in FIG. 9F, the hand element 216from a first user's video feed 212 has an augmented reality boxing gloveelement 410 placed over the hand in the superimposed video feed 310displayed to the end user(s). The boxing glove covered hand of a firstuser may then have the ability to interact with the face element 218 ofthe second user's video feed 214. This interaction may include obscuringthe face but can also include creating an augmented reality visualrepresentation of a cut, bruise, etc. on the face element 218 of thesecond user.

FIG. 9G illustrates yet another example of augmented reality element(s)310 being added to a superimposed video feed 310 by the multi-sourcevideo superimposition system 10. As shown in FIG. 9G, both thesuperimposed hand elements of a first user (216) and second user (218)are able to interact with each other and also interact with theaugmented reality elements 410 (e.g., bugs) inserted into thesuperimposed video 310 by the system. The user's hand elements (216,218) extracted from the respective video feeds (212, 214) may have theability to squash or flick the bug elements 410 as they appear on screen(shown in FIG. 9D) with such interactions being part of a game oractivity with the system 10 also keeping track of score, displayingsmashed bugs, etc.

FIG. 9H is a flowchart of an augmented reality element 310 being addedto a video call using the multi-feed video call system 10. As shown inFIG. 9H, the videos 210 which will be superimposed by the system 10originate on respective caller's end user devices 20. A first user'srear camera 119 and second user's front camera 118 send video 210 to acentralized server 30. The video may be sent via the internet or anyother functionally useful means, with the central server 30 receivingthe separate video 210, analyzing them, removing extraneous informationfrom the video 210 (e.g., solid colored backgrounds, etc.), andcombining the two respective videos 210 into a superimposed video 310(as discussed in FIG. 8A). The superimposed video 310 then has at leastone augmented reality element 410 added to the superimposed video 310,with the system then sending back the super imposed video 310 to therespective user device's 20 involved in the video chat via the internetor any other functionally useful means.

It should be noted the types of augmented reality elements 410 added toa superimposed video 310 by the system 10 may be selected via agraphical user interface (GUI) running on one of the end user devices20. For example, users may have the option to select from a drop-downmenu within the GUI of augmented reality elements 410 including objects(e.g., bugs, hats, fruit, etc.) and environments (e.g., moon, mars,rainforest, etc.). The environment(s) selected by users (orautomatically applied by the system) may also impact how the humanelements and augmented reality objects interact. For example, if an enduser was to select the moon as their augment reality environment andbugs as an augmented reality object, the bugs might be given aweightless or low gravity visual effect to simulate being on the moon.The human elements might also have this same visual effect applied.

It should also be noted that the movement and position of all visualelements (human and augmented reality elements 410) may be tracked via aspatial recognition algorithm. The spatial recognition algorithm maykeep track of the relative position between elements, movement speed ofmoving elements, acceleration of moving elements, and any momentum of amoving element (and this momentum's transfer to other elements).

FIG. 10 is an overview diagram of an augmented reality enhanced videocall using the multi-feed video call system 10 and a virtual realityheadset 510. As shown in FIG. 10, a superimposed real-time video 310 ofone user's front camera 118 (Caller 2) and another user's rear camera119 (Caller 1) is displayed to both users. In this example, the video210 from Caller 2's device's front camera 118 is shown on both Caller 1and Caller 2's device 20 screens, with the video 210 from Caller 1'sdevice's back camera 119 superimposed over Caller 2's front camera 118video 210 allowing Caller 1 to “touch” (i.e., see their hand or otherhuman element(s) superimposed upon the face and/or body of another user)Caller 2 via an illusion created by the superimposition of the video210. In this example, the first human element 216 is associated withCaller 1's hand and the second human element 218 is associated withCaller 2's face, neck, and upper torso. It should be noted however thelabels regarding the first human element 216 and second human element218 could be reversed in this example as which human element is labeledfirst and second does not automatically dictate which element will besuperimposed over the other.

The superimposed video 310 shown to the end users may features augmentedreality element(s) 410 (examples shown in FIGS. 9B-9G) with the endusers potentially being able to also enjoy virtual reality effects aswell. As shown in FIG. 1, a first user is utilizing a virtual reality(VR) headset 510. This user may be shown the same superimposed videofeed 310 which is shown to a second user, or shown a differentsuperimposed video feed 310 depending on the hardware and softwarecapabilities of each user's device 20. For example, the user wearing theVR headset might be shown 3-D images of a hat augmented reality element410, etc. in their respective superimposed video 310 while the seconduser, carrying out a call on a tablet, is shown 2-D images of the hatelement 410. etc. The VR headset 510 may be attachable to a smartphoneor tablet as shown, or the end user device 20 may be fully integratedinto the VR headset 510. Such headsets 510 may include commerciallyavailable solutions such as the Sony PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, OculusRift, Google Daydream, and Samsung Gear VR, etc. The VR Headset 510 mayalso be proprietary in design in order to maximize functionality ofsuperimposed augmented reality video calls carried out by the system 10.

Aspects of the systems and methods provided herein encompass hardwareand software for controlling the relevant functions. Software may takethe form of code or executable instructions for causing a processor orother programmable equipment to perform the relevant steps, where thecode or instructions are carried by or otherwise embodied in a mediumreadable by the processor or other machine. Instructions or code forimplementing such operations may be in the form of computer instructionin any form (e.g., source code, object code, interpreted code, etc.)stored in or carried by any tangible readable medium.

It should be noted that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention andwithout diminishing its attendant advantages.

I claim:
 1. A computer-implemented method of superimposing video carriedout by a processor, the method comprising the steps of: receiving afirst live video from a first user device; receiving a second live videofrom a second user device; identifying and extracting, on a continuousbasis, a first human element from the first live video using a detectionalgorithm; combining the first human element and a portion or all of thesecond live video in real-time to create a superimposed video includinga frame perimeter within which the superimposed video includes the firsthuman element and a second human element from the second live video,wherein, within the superimposed video, the first human element and thesecond human element may concurrently occupy any location within theframe perimeter; inserting an augmented reality element within the frameperimeter such that the superimposed video includes the first humanelement extracted from the first live video, the second human elementfrom the second live video, and the augmented reality object; andtransmitting the superimposed video to at least one of the first userdevice and the second user device; wherein the first live video iscaptured by a rear facing camera of the first user device and, inresponse to movement of the first human element relative to the firstuser device, the first human element obscures at least a portion of thesecond human element in the transmitted superimposed video; furtherwherein the location of the extracted human element within thesuperimposed video is directly controlled in real-time by the positionof the first human element relative to the first user device and,concurrently, the location of the second human element within thesuperimposed video is directly controlled in real-time by the positionof the second human element relative to the second user device.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of superimposing video of claim 1, whereinin response to real-time movement by the first human element relative tothe first user device and the second human element relative to thesecond user device, contact is simulated between the first human elementand the second human element in the superimposed video.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of superimposing video of claim 1, whereinthe first user device is a mobile computing device.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of superimposing video of claim 1, whereinthe first user device is a personal computer.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of superimposing video of claim 1, whereinthe first live video is captured by at least two cameras of the firstuser device simultaneously.
 6. The computer-implemented method ofsuperimposing video of claim 1, wherein the second live video iscaptured by a front facing camera of the second user device.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of superimposing video of claim 1, whereinthe second live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the seconduser device.
 8. The computer-implemented method of superimposing videoof claim 1, wherein the detection algorithm includes one or more offoreground and background separation, proximity recognition, Chromakeying, hand-arm/body detection, background subtraction, and a Kalmanfilter.
 9. The computer-implemented method of superimposing video ofclaim 1, wherein the augmented reality element is passive within thesuperimposed video.
 10. The computer-implemented method of superimposingvideo of claim 1, wherein the augmented reality element is active andresponsive within the superimposed video to movement of the first humanelement relative to the first user device and to movement of the secondhuman element relative to the second user device.
 11. Acomputer-implemented system for superimposing video, comprising: acentral server featuring a processor, memory, and networking interface;a first user device featuring a camera, processor, memory, andnetworking interface; a second user device featuring a camera,processor, memory, and networking interface; wherein one of the centralserver, the first user device's processor, and the second user device'sprocessor: receives a first live video from a first user device and asecond live video from a second user device; identifies and extracts, ona continuous basis, a first human element from the first live videousing a detection algorithm; combines the first human element with aportion or all of the second live video in real-time to create asuperimposed video including a frame perimeter within which thesuperimposed video includes the first human element and a second humanelement from the second live video, wherein, within the superimposedvideo, the first human element and the second human element mayconcurrently occupy any location within the frame perimeter; inserts anaugmented reality element within the frame perimeter such that thesuperimposed video includes the first human element extracted from thefirst live video, the second human element from the second live video,and the augmented reality object; and transmits the superimposed videoto at least one of the first user device and the second user device;wherein the first live video is captured by a rear facing camera of thefirst user device and, in response to movement of the first humanelement relative to the first user device, the first human elementobscures at least a portion of the second human element in thetransmitted superimposed video; further wherein the location of theextracted human element within the superimposed video is directlycontrolled in real-time by the position of the first human elementrelative to the first user device and, concurrently, the location of thesecond human element within the superimposed video is directlycontrolled in real-time by the position of the second human elementrelative to the second user device.
 12. The computer-implemented systemfor superimposing video of claim 11, wherein in response to real-timemovement by the first human element relative to the first user deviceand the second human element relative to the second user device, contactis simulated between the first human element and the second humanelement in the superimposed video.
 13. The computer-implemented systemfor superimposing video of claim 11, wherein the first user device is asmartphone.
 14. The computer-implemented system for superimposing videoof claim 11, wherein the first user device is a desktop computer. 15.The computer-implemented system of superimposing video of claim 11,wherein the first live video is captured by at least two cameras of thefirst user device simultaneously.
 16. The computer-implemented systemfor superimposing video of claim 11, wherein the second live video iscaptured by a front facing camera of the second user device.
 17. Thecomputer-implemented system for superimposing video of claim 11, whereinthe second live video is captured by a rear facing camera of the seconduser device.
 18. The computer-implemented system for superimposing videoof claim 11, wherein the detection algorithm includes one or more offoreground and background separation, proximity recognition, Chromakeying, hand-arm/body detection, background subtraction, and a Kalmanfilter.
 19. The computer-implemented system for superimposing video ofclaim 11, wherein the augmented reality element is passive within thesuperimposed video.
 20. The computer-implemented system forsuperimposing video of claim 11, wherein the augmented reality elementis active and responsive within the superimposed video to movement ofthe first human element relative to the first user device and tomovement of the second human element relative to the second user device.